Sophie Russenberger went into the national championships focused on Sunday’s criterium race. Friday, she had a silver medal hung around her neck.
The Fort Lewis College sophomore from Bend, Oregon, took second in Friday’s road race at the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships in Grand Junction. The Division 1 varsity women’s race was won by Mackenzie Wyatt from Savannah College of Art & Design-Atlanta, who crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 41 minutes, 56 seconds. Russenberger completed the three laps for a total of 49.7 miles only one second off of Wyatt’s pace for silver, while Ashlyn Woods of Lees-McRae College was third in 2:41:59.
“Sophie was definitely a surprise for us to do so well,” FLC road coach Ian Burnett said. “She’s been a key part of the team and raced well together all year. She was competitive and aggressive all day, and it worked out for her.”
FLC’s Charlotte Backus finished 10th in 2:42:10, Emily Abraham was 19th in 2:42:33, Kira Payer was 25th in 2:46:43, Tristen Musselman placed 35th in 2:55:14, and Savannah Adams rounded out the Skyhawks in 40th in 2:59:52.
The course featured 4,311 feet of climbing over the nearly 50 miles. Payer made a solo break midway through the race, and that was key to how the rest of the race played out. Burnett was happy to see Payer make the move and be aggressive, as he said the Skyhawks have sat back before and let other team’s be the aggressor to the detriment of FLC.
Payer’s move made a big difference for Russenberger.
“On the second lap, one of our teammates had a gap, and the (Marian University) girls didn’t figure out she was off the front for awhile,” Russenberger said. “When they figured it out, they were going hard to catch her. On the climb they had a girl attack, and I got on her wheel in case she bridged. When I did that I was like, ‘Oh hey, that worked, I’m on her wheel.’ Even though it was a hard climb, I figured I could do it again if it came to it, and I did on that last lap.”
Marian University is the eight-time defending road champion, but the FLC women fared better as a team Friday.
The four-lap men’s race was all about host Colorado Mesa University. Mauro Rato completed the 66-mile route in 2:42:29 to take the win. The senior from Spain is only four years removed from a serious back injury that changed his approach to cycling, as he went from a sprinter to more of an endurance rider.
Marian’s Ben Schmutte was second in the men’s Division I varsity road race in 2:42:54, and Colorado Mesa’s Liam Earl finished third in 2:43:05.
FLC’s James Hilyer suffered in the final sprint but made the hard work pay off with a fourth-place finish in 2:44:04. He finished just ahead of Colorado Mesa’s Torbjorn Roed, who was fifth in 2:44:06 to give the Mavericks three riders in the top five.
“It was a competitive race and kind of a shock to the system to have a warm-weather race finally,” Burnett said of the race in the Grand Junction afternoon heat. “It was very warm by the time we got done, and the guys laid their souls out there. It turned out decent, and they’re all ready to fight another day.”
Also for FLC, Andre Bos was 19th in 2:44:55, Thomas Gauthier was 22nd in 2:47:55, Nikolas Johnson finished 26th in 2:49:43, Matthew Turner came in 28th in 2:50:13, Peter Behm, who was third at the midway point, finished 33rd in 2:56:29, Dillon Janda was 37th in 3:00:16 and Emmanuel Gagne did not finish.
Saturday will feature the team and individual time trials. FLC’s big goal is to win the women’s Division 1 varsity team time trial.
“They’ve put in a lot of work this year and bonded as a group,” Burnett said. “We want to win that thing. We want the home time trial and want to win this one for each other.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
